WAITE PARK — Executive Express, a local transportation company offering travelers hassle-free rides to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, opened its new Waite Park transit hub last week.

The company was formerly headquartered in south St. Cloud and picked up passengers at the Holiday Inn, but it needed more room to grow. The new facility — located at 3105 Stearns County Road 138 — offers more office space, secure parking and an enhanced focus on customer service with a lounge area for travelers.

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Owner Larry Logeman talks about the covered passenger loading area Tuesday, July 17, at the new Executive Express transit hub at 3105 Stearns County Road 138 in Waite Park.(Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

"We're trying to create an environment that is really comfortable for our customers," owner Larry Logeman said. "This whole project was a dream and vision many, many years ago."

The lounge offers seating with accessible power outlets and USB plug-ins, free coffee and water, a water bottle refill station and restrooms. These were all enhancements that came from customer requests, Logeman said.

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Customers are welcomed in the lounge area of the new Executive Express Transit hub in Waite Park. (Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

The loading area is covered, allowing travelers to avoid rain and snow when they arrive at and depart the transit hub. The lounge area is staffed 24 hours a day and employees are available to help unload luggage when customers arrive.

"Instead of just parking, we really want them to drive right up to the customer entrance door," Logeman said. "Once we touch their luggage, we don't want the customer to ever have to touch their luggage again until they are at the airport."

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A large covered customer loading area is one of many new features at the new Executive Express transit hub in Waite Park. It's at 3105 Stearns County Road 138.(Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

Executive Express was founded in 1979, and Logeman bought the company in 2005. He started with 11 employees and five vehicles transporting customers to and from MSP five times a day.

Now Executive Express has more than 120 employees, 57 vehicles and makes 18 trips to the airport each day. Logeman also opened a second location in 2009 in Ames, Iowa, that provides transportation services to the Des Moines airport.

That explosive growth can be seen at its new location and it offers more room to grow. The move bumped up the company's space from 10,000 square feet on one acre of land to more than 25,000 square feet on 15 acres.

The new transit hub brings Logeman's office staff and customers to the same facility for the first time, and he said it's been a great experience getting to meet travelers, hear their comments and make improvements based on their feedback

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Clocks tell the time on a wall of the new Executive Express Transit hub. (Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

"All the work we were doing in our (old) office was to get people to come to the Holiday Inn. Now we get to see our customers and we're trading off helping to greet our customers," Logeman said. "We make decisions on what's best for the customer experience even if it's more costly."

Have a tip about business news in the St. Cloud area? Contact Anna at ahaecherl@stcloudtimes.com or 320-259-3662. Follow Anna on Twitter @AnnaHaecherl